Page 13 Question D
“The Schlieffen plan failed because of the British role at the Battle of Mons,”Do you agree with the view? Use sources and your own knowledge to explain.
I agree with this view, The British army at the Battle of Mons did make the Schlieffen plan fail. Schlieffen did not expect the British would get involved in this war. He thought that the British would join the war over “scrap of paper.” Great Britain had a treaty with Belgium. The treaty stated that if Belgium did get into a war Britain would back them up. Schlieffen thought that Belgium would not risk attacking the German army. Although the Germans had a much bigger army the British had a trained and a professional army, Source D tells us this. The BEF, British Expeditionary Force came to Belgium rapidly and slowed the Germans down with the Belgium army. “Germans came in Hordes and were shot down,” This quote from source B tells us that the British fired so quickly that the Germans were shot down. By slowing the Germans they gave time to the French to mobilize and try to get their army from Alsace Lorraine to Paris. No longer able to push Germany back the British retreated to the Marne this is known as the Great Retreat. This is where the French joined. River Marne is only 60 kilometres away from the capital of France which the Germans were aiming for. When the British, Belgium and the French army were defending the River Marne and trying to push the Germans back. The Germans wee pushed to River Aisne. This battle was the most important battle of the war as it was saved Paris from capture. The battle of the Marne started on 5th September and ended 5 days later.
